Not so "Great" news from the United Kingdom.

Former UFC middleweight number one contender Nate Marquardt will no longer be making his UK debut at BAMMA 8 from the Capital FM Arena on Dec. 10, 2011, in Nottingham, England.

Says BAMMA:

Top ranked fighter Nate Marquardt was originally expected to make his BAMMA debut at BAMMA 8 but is now confirmed to face UFC veteran Yoshiyuki Yoshida at BAMMA 9 on February 11th at LG Arena in Birmingham.

David Green, CEO at BAMMA stated, "We are very excited to announce what we believe to be a great headline fight for the fans at BAMMA 9 for the World Welterweight Title. Yoshiyuki Yoshida is a UFC, Bellator, and One FC veteran who comes with notable wins over the likes of Dan Hardy, War Machine and Phil Baroni. Both Yoshiyuki and Nate are very excited about fighting at BAMMA 9 and although we had planned for Nate's first fight to be in December, we believe it is worth waiting a further 8 weeks for such a great match up."

It may indeed be worth waiting another eight weeks for -- unless of course you already bought a ticket to BAMMA 8 in hopes of seeing him compete.

Marquardt failed his pre-fight medical exam prior to the UFC on Versus 4 event last June in Pittsburgh, leaving his former employer in a last-minute scramble to find a new main event after the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission (PSAC) barred him from participating.

It turns out the testosterone levels in his blood stream were too "Great" to let him compete after multiple blood tests revealed he was not within acceptable ranges for competition.

The spike was blamed on Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT), which Marquardt later admitted to using to combat the combined effects of his age and history of professional fighting.

UFC President Dana White booted him from the Zuffa roster after he threw the June 26 fight card into turmoil just 24 hours before it was set to air live on the Versus network. Charlie Brenneman was able to step in on super-short notice to fight Rick Story, but it didn't do anything to preserve Marquardt's employment.

Nevertheless, he's served his suspension and after briefly flirting with Bellator Fighting Championships following call-outs from Ben Askren and Hector Lombard, the three-time middleweight "King of Pancrase" found his home across the pond.

And the promotion couldn't be happier.

"As soon as we received word that the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission lifted Marquardt's suspension we jumped at the chance to sign him," said BAMMA's Liam Fisher. "He is a top ranked contender and an asset to any promotion. Words cannot express how excited we are that Marquardt is now fighting under the BAMMA banner."

BAMMA is excited. Marquardt is excited. But what about the fans? Does today's announcement get you excited?

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more details on BAMMA 9 as they become available.